Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband today published the long-awaited national policy statements (NPS) that will pave the way for a new generation of nuclear power stations.
The draft nuclear NPS approves the building of new reactors by 2025 at ten sites already suggested by the nuclear industry.
They are Braystones, Sellefield and Kirksanton in Cumbria, Heysham in Lancacshire, Hartlepool in County Durham, Wylfa in Angelsey, Sizewell in Suffolk, Bradwell in Essex, Hinkley Point in Somerset and Oldbury in Gloucerstershire. All are existing nuclear sites.
An 11th proposed station at Dungeness in Kent was rejected because the government believes the local environment will be adversely affected.
Today Ed Miliband told the Commons the country needed the statements to hasten the move to a de-carbonised energy system.
"The threat of climate change means we need to make a transition from a system that relies heavily on high carbon fossil fuels to a radically different system that includes nuclear, renewable and clean coal power," he said.
The policy statements are open for public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny until March next year. When agreed, the newly formed Infrastructure Planning Commission will use them as a basis for making the final decision on approving new build.
Schemes covered by the statements will then not be subject to public enquiry and the IPC will aim to make a decision on each of them within a year – far faster than the current process for approving nuclear build which takes years and can require applications to up to five different bodies.
Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, managing director of nuclear new build at EDF energy, welcomed the new regime.
"If we look at what's happened in the past with Sizewell taking some six years to get through planning, it is clear the country has to streamline and make it a more efficient process," he said.
The government sees nuclear power as key in its plans to decarbonise the UK's electricity supply, envisaging it contributing almost a third of power generation by 2030, up from around 20 per cent today.
The government also published policy statements on wind, clean coal and electricity networks today, all of which will be used for blueprints for planning decisions by the IPC.
Today in the Commons shadow energy minister Greg Clark echoed the sentiments of many in the industry. "We welcome the statements, but why did they leave it so long to act?" he said.
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